Over the past 14 years, the Global Gender Gap Index included in The World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2020 has served as a compass to track progress on relative gaps between women and men on health, education, economy, and politics. Through this annual yardstick, stakeholders within each country are able to set priorities relevant in each specific economic, political and cultural context.
This year’s report highlights the growing urgency for action. Without the equal inclusion of half of the world’s talent, we will not be able to deliver on the promise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution for all of society, grow our economies for greater shared prosperity or achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. At the present rate of change, it will take nearly a century to achieve parity, a timeline we simply cannot accept in today’s globalized world, especially among younger generations who hold increasingly progressive views of gender equality.
Lorri Lowe, Chair of Friisberg's Diversity Group, who writes and speaks regularly on employee engagement and corporate cultures, highlights the slow rate of progress being made towards parity between the sexes, particularly in boardrooms:
"Without some widespread recognition that there is a problem to be addressed, these statistics will continue to be disheartening. The acknowledgement needs to made, by employers, that - as Jesse Jackson famously said - when everyone is included, everyone wins."
